We Get Letters
FOLLOWING A VISIT TO NEVELSON CHAPEL BY THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHITNEY:
It was so wonderful to hear each of your personal relationships with Nevelson Chapel and really moving to see how art can provoke such reflection. I am thrilled to have a new quiet spot to pop into when I’m in Midtown — I only wish I had understood earlier what a special place Saint Peter’s Church is!
Laura Phipps
Associate Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art
AS PRINTED IN THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT:
In his insightful review of The Great Gatsby on its 100th anniversary (July 11), Michael LaPointe tells us that the term “Jazz Age” is a F. Scott Fitzgerald “coinage” of 1922, but the Oxford English Dictionary traces the term to 1920, when it was opined in the Dunkirk Evening Observer that “We are living in a jazz age and I wonder if a jazz chuch ought not to be the next development”. In 1965, the Church of Saint Peter’s in New York City held its first “Jazz Vespers Service”, a tradition still in place every Sunday at 5pm.
Jeremy Danneman
Brooklyn, NY
From a neighbor:
This place is not only important to me but to the entire community. I just came from Jazz on the Plaza and know that you also have activities in the Living Room, upstairs all of the colorful and joyful art, and other meetings and events. This place is so open. That’s what churches were in the past. And you are doing this today for so many people. I know it is not easy and takes a lot of work. Thank you.
FROM PUEBLOS Y COMUNIDADES INDÍGENAS TRANSFRONTERIZOS:
Thanks to the collaboration with Saint Peter’s, more than 18 families separated by borders were reunited during July and August. The people reunited come from the Ñuu Savi, Náhuatl, Me’phaa, Otomí, Afro-Mexican, and Zapotec communities. The process to obtain authorization and travel to New York took more than 12 months. After being separated for 15 or even 20 years -- thanks to a commitment rooted in love -- daughters, sons, mothers, and fathers were able to come together again. Although the humanitarian visas are temporary, today these families walk the streets of New York alongside their grandchildren, knowing that, despite the complexity of the situation, each has at least one corner of joy and affection.